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This comment period ended Sept. 21, 2001.  The deal was approved by the Federal Court, and the governments are currently spending the $40 million for sediment cleanup planning and for restoration projects.

Please write your comment letter today!    The Intergovernmental Partnership (which is now uniformly Republican at both the state DNR and federal EPA level) has announced a surprise $40 million proposed "global settlement" with Appleton Paper and NCR Corporation, which they call a "down payment" on the companies’ long term liabilities.   In exchange, the corporations will not be sued for more money for 4 years and the Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA) will not be finalized during that time. 

Our specific objections:

Just One Hotspot Cleaned --- If the money is evenly split (which isn’t clear) $20 million would be used to start cleanup.  The other $20 million would start the NRDA habitat restoration and compensation. 
 

For comparison purposes: it cost between $15 and $20 million to demonstrate a minimal clean-up (with no detoxification) at just one sediment PCB hotspot, the 56/57 site by the Fort James (now Georgia Pacific) mill in Green Bay. This means that in a four-year period, Appleton Paper/NCR would clean up only ONE equivalent sized hotspot, out of more than 85 river sites (large and small) which need cleanup.  This is NOT the rapid cleanup schedule needed to protect public health and wildlife.

Far Too Little Money - Appleton Paper and NCR Corp. are responsible for up to 70% of the PCB contamination.  (They created the PCB-coated paper, the others recycled it.) The sediment cleanup has been calculated by DNR to cost $400 to $700 million, and the NRDA compensation and restoration would cost an additional $177 to $333 million, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.   The combined total would be $577 to $1,033 million.   The Appleton/NCR share of this (at 70%) could be $403.9 to $723.10 million.  This means the $40 million is less than 10% of even the low range of what the final settlement should be for these two major polluters.

Delay and Lost Momentum - The NRDA has been in development for 8 years already, after 5 years of start-up delays before that (due to state obstructionism).  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service held 5 public hearings last November and December where hundreds of people attended to show support for major compensation, though the vast majority of testifiers felt the proposed compensation dollars were too low.   It is unacceptable to stop the NRDA process cold and make us wait 4 more years for final resolution.  This will dissipate momentum which has built for action.

Legal Time Lag - In 4 years, Appleton/NCR could refuse to pay the rest,which means the governments could be forced to sue.  But the legal process will be started 4 years late, making the bulk of the settlement come that much later. 

Aging Statistics - In 4 years, will the economic, biological and sediment models still be considered current enough to stand up in court, or will Appleton/NCR argue that the data is too old and we need new studies, as they are already starting to claim? 

Pre-emptive Action - The public was expecting to be asked to review the final comprehensive sediment cleanup plan in about a month (the Remedial Investigation Feasibility Study Ñ- several inches thick).   We had been promised extensive public involvement with plenty of background  information about final total costs and remedial options.  Instead, this $40 million deal has been announced out of the blue, which takes the major two polluters out of the picture for 4 years.   The public is expected to submit written comments about the $40 million deal within 30 days, BEFORE getting a chance to review the final comprehensive plan.   It’s impossible to make informed comments under these circumstances.

Broken Promise - This $40 million deal is a radical policy shift under the Bush Administration.  We were promised the federal government, (and U.S. Fish & Wildlife in particular) would not (and legally could not) sign any settlements until after the Record of Decision is complete on the comprehensive Fox River cleanup plan sometime this winter or early next year.   This would have allowed the public to review the agreement in the context of the larger comprehensive plan details.

Unknown Projects - The government/industry partnership announced this deal with no details about how the money would be apportioned.   What projects do they envision?  What percentage is for sediment cleanup?  Or for compensation?   This was just a media release with no details, and the true detailed proposal has yet to be announced a month and a half later.

Appleton’s Workers at Risk - This delay tactic may hurt the workers at Appleton Paper because they may be getting a false picture of their true liability when they take over ownership of the company in the near future.  It would be healthier for them to have the full financial picture now.

Undeserved Positive Publicity - Appleton Paper representatives claim this is a "no strings attached" agreement, which is absolutely false.  They’ve purchased a 4 year delay in the bulk of their responsibility (~90%).   In addition, this corporation has caused over a billion dollars of economic damage (not including human health care costs) while poisoning millions of people.   They don’t deserve to be painted as generous heroes in this settlement.   If they were good neighbors they would have stopped using PCBs as soon as their workers showed health effects (probably within the first year of use.)  Or cleaned up the river right away without being asked.   Instead, they’ve dragged their feet for nearly 50 years.

Public Confusion - The final comprehensive river cleanup plan will be big and complicated enough for the public to absorb and understand without throwing in this added complexity.  They’re deliberately creating chaos at a critical time in the public involvement process.

No Public Hearing - The agencies refuse to hold even one public hearing on this issue.   A DNR official recently boasted that they’ve had  many months of "non-stop daily collaboration" with the paper mills on the Fox River issue.  Yet, these same government employees are unwilling to hold even ONE face-to-face meeting with the public who provides their paychecks.  They refuse to publicly answer questions, discuss the issue in front of the news media, or hear a public debate on the issue.  This is just the latest in a long series of cases where our government has refused to hold hearings or give advance notice of major decisions they’re making. They’ve abandoned even the pretense of listening to public concerns before making multi-million dollar decisions. 

Please write a comment letter (to be received by the Sept. 21 deadline)   (The time has passed ... watch for the next alert!)

Assistant Attorney General
Environment and Natural Resources Division
U.S. Dept. of Justice
P.O. Box 7611
Washington, DC 20044-7611

* A key point to make in your letter:

Request a 60 day public comment extension beyond Sept. 21, to allow the public time to review the comprehensive Fox River cleanup plan, due to be released at the end of September, before giving final comment on this $40 million agreement.  The public needs more detailed background information before commenting.

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